The airport said that it also expected “significant disruption over the coming days” and that it would notify the public as more became known as it urged passengers not to go to the site until it reopened.
“We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation,” the airport said.
One of those disappointed passengers was Los Angeles-based comedian and star of “Adam Ruins Everything” Adam Conover, who was in transit to London for a stand-up gig when his flight was diverted midair.
“We were in the air for about it 90 minutes and they had just finished dinner service,” the 42-year-old comedian told NBC News in a phone interview Friday morning. “Then the captain came on and said there was a fire … we had to turn around.”
After a brief nap, the creator of Netflix’s “The G Word” said he’ll be flying to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he faces a four-hour layover, a flight to Manchester, and then an at least two-hour-long train to the British capital.
A video posted on social media showed the inside of the airport with only emergency lighting.
The London Fire Brigade said that a transformer in a substation in Hayes, which is north of Heathrow, was on fire and that 150 people have been evacuated. It said it was called to the scene just after 11:20 p.m. Thursday local time (7:20 p.m. ET).
“This is a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters are working tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” Fire Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said in a statement.
